Chapter 9: The lull before the storm
A couple of minutes later, I finally broke through the cloud cover and –after depositing Applejack on the cloudy ground- landed on the soft surface, instantly slumping and granting my strained body its well-deserved rest; the pain in my wings had increased tenfold – at least.
But it had been worth it: turning my head, I saw that Derpy, as well as Applejack, who was busy freeing her body from a makeshift construction of rope, had entered Cloudsdale without any issues.
Walking towards Derpy, I said: “Alright, here we are. Thank you very much, Derpy!”
The grey mare gave me a friendly smile and said: “You’re welcome! I’m glad that I could help.” a touch of skepticism showing up in her eyes, she added, “So … you’re going to the factory now?”
I nodded determined: “Yes. Do you want to join us?”
She hastily shook her head, her eyes widened: “No! No, sorry, but I’ve … I’ve sworn myself to never enter that place again! Never ever!”
“Alright then.” Applejack replied for me, “Well, what shall we say? Thank ya kindly for helpin’ us out!” she said with an appreciating smile.
Derpy tilted her head to the side and smiled back, saying: “Not a problem, my friends.” She became serious, But please watch out when you’re in the factory: according to what I’ve seen…” she gulped. “Anyways, good luck!”
She waved at us, then turned around and flew away.
Trying to get a clue where we were at, I casted a glance around: we were standing in the middle of an almost empty square; some guards were standing somewhere in the distance and didn’t seem to notice us; one or two single pegasi trotted over the place, but in general, it was empty.
It didn’t take me more than a few seconds to recognize the square. Turning my head, I gave a nearby, small house a quick look and noticed a big poster hanging at the familiar-looking front door.
“No … no, they didn’t…! They can’t…!” I mumbled unbelieving and slowly trotted towards the entrance, reading the message on the poster:
Mares and Gentlecolts! The Princess demands your undivided attention!
The rebellious bunch under the mare formerly known as ‘Princess Luna’, who call their laughable rebellion ‘New Lunar Republic’ has finally decided to cross the last frontier and attacked a group of guards near their so-called ‘embassy’ in Ponyville.
Certainly, they dashed against our superiority in number and experience, but by deviously attacking from behind, they managed to eliminate multiple of our faithful guards.
DO NOT LET THEIR DEATHS STAY UNPUNISHED!
JOIN THE ARMY OF THE SOLAR EMPIRE TODAY AND FIGHT FOR OUR GLORIOUS PRINCESS!
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND AN IMMEDIATE ENLISTMENT, CONSULT THIS RECRUITING OFFICE!
HAIL TO PRINCESS CELESTIA!
HAIL TO THE SOLAR EMPIRE!
I stopped right in front of the entrance in the second I finished the last line. Looking at the converted home, I felt how my legs got weaker with every second and let out a wistful sigh.
“So this is what they’ve made of my beloved house? A motherbucking recruiting office!?” I mumbled; my wistfulness suddenly changed into anger, “How dare they? How!? Dare!? They!?”
Stamping my hoof, I yelled: “You sick bastards! That house was built to shelter a family, not to serve your motherbucking recruiting drive!”
Just as I was about to dash forward to enter the house and take back what was mine, I felt the strong grip of two hooves around my shoulder and hesitated.
“Are ya off yer rocker or what!?” Applejack said into my ear, “If Ah may remind ya, we’re tryin’ not to get detected!”
I struggled against her grip for a second, but quickly calmed down, realizing that fighting for my property would only cause unwanted attention and maybe even lead to my detection.
“Now, will ya keep calm an’ try not to lose it?” Applejack asked me surprisingly calm.
With a hesitant nod, I said: “Yeah. Sorry, I guess I just …”
“It’s fine.” Applejack said before I could finish my sentence, “Just watch out! There are guards everywhere.” She said and pointed to the armored ponies in the distance.
“Now, can we go or what?” she added after a few seconds.
Giving her a numb nod, I turned around and headed away from my former house; Applejack walking right behind me.
“You don’t know where the weather factory is, do you?” I asked her over my shoulder.
The farmer shook her head: “Nah, Ah’ve visited once with my friends, but Ah don’t remember its position.”
“Alright then, just stay behind me.” I told her without turning my head, “I think I can remember how to get there.” I said and focused the distant silhouette of the factory: walking there would probably take a bit more than thirty minutes.
For a moment, Applejack remained silent. Then, after a few seconds, she asked: “What are ya gonna do when we’re in the factory?”
I remained silent for a second, thinking about her question. My eyes slowly widened: I’d never really thought of that: all the
time, it was all about ‘find the factory, find Firespark, free Firespark, exterminate the foalnappers’, but I’d never really thought about how I wanted to do that. Hell, I didn’t even know how I was supposed to enter the factory!
Hesitantly turning my head towards her, I said: “… Well … I guess … I’ll search for Firespark and …”
“And what? Do ya have any idea?” Applejack interrupted me skeptically.
I shrugged casually: “Well, no.”
She dropped her face into her hoof: “Duh. Then do ya at least have a plan how we can get in there!? Ah mean, according to Fluttershy’s description, it’s pretty well-guarded.”
With another shrug. I soberly explained: “See, Applejack: I don’t force you to come with me. Of course, your support would be really helpful, but if you feel insecure with that, you can just turn around and leave. I won’t reproach you.”
“Ah won’t leave, Ah’m just concerned about our security!” she affirmed, “Ah don’t wanna die, ya know?”
Giving her a sober look, I said: “Then you should really think about turning around. I can understand if you’re afraid to die, but for my part…” I gulped, “I’d rather die than to live with the certainty that my daughter has been abducted and I didn’t do anything to save her. My plan is to go in there, find Firespark, and leave the factory - nothing more, nothing less.”
Narrowing my eyes in determination, I continued: “I’m not afraid of dying when it’s about my daughter. And I’ll definitely find a way, even if I have to break through the walls of the factory headfirst! I’d do anything to find her!” I turned towards the orange mare and pointed a hoof her, “Think about that, then decide if you want to come with me.” Without a further comment, I turned back and walked off, leaving her behind.
It took a few moments until I heard the soft sound of hooves running over clouds and turned my head: Applejack ran after me, her eyes narrowed.
“So, have you met your decision?” I asked her dryly.
She nodded hastily: “Of course Ah did! Heck, Ah said that ya can depend on me and Ah won’t take it back! Ah just meant that it would be helpful if we had at least a rough concept of what we’re about to do!”
I shrugged: “Maybe.”
“So, let’s summarize, what do ya know about the factory?” she asked me.
“It’s most likely a particular division of the weather factory - the place where foals who failed their tests are taken. Oh, and it’s somehow related to the production of spectra, the base for rainbows.”
“Do ya have any clue of what happens to the foals?”
With an unbelieving look, I asked her: “What do you think am I trying to find out in that factory?”
“So ya don’t?”
“Well, I suppose that they’re used as slaves; that’s Celestia’s style. But I’m not sure about that.”
Applejack tilted her head to the side and reflected: “It’s quite a long time ago that Ah’ve been there; how does the spectra come to the weather factory again?”
Remembering the factory’s layout surprisingly exact, I quickly answered: “I never really paid attention to it, but … I think it came from some tubes in the ceiling of the factory.” Realizing her idea, I hastily added: “So, you mean the Rainbow Factory is above the weather factory?”
“That seems to be the most obvious explanation to me.” She concluded convinced.
I reflected: indeed, the parts I’ve seen didn’t seem to be the highest levels of the factory. I actually thought that there were the rooms for the administration and that, but Applejack’s explanation seemed to add up surprisingly well. Why should they import the valuable spectra from another place and risk it to be stolen when they can just have it produced in a factory right over their heads?
Looking at the orange mare seriously, I said: “I think you’re right. That means we’ll probably have to look for an entrance in higher levels, I don’t really think that we we’d be able to pass that metal-door Fluttershy described.”
Applejack shook her head: “Me neither. But Ah’m sure there’s another entrance somewhere, we just gotta look for it!”
I nodded and turned around again, facing the factory: “Sure.”
The walk to the factory took us no more than a few more minutes. With the zenithal sun burning down on our fur, we approached the factory and stopped at a big square in front of the huge, inviting door where the common visitors would step through.
Staying distanced from a couple of royal guards guarding the entrance, I leaned towards Applejack and asked: “What now? Shall we try to enter the factory like visitors and look for a chance to snoop, or shall we just directly look for a back entrance?”
She shrugged: “Well, Ah guess we can give the visitor-way a shot. If that goes wrong, we can still sneak in.”
I nodded: “Alright then. I’ll go ahead.”
We turned around simultaneously and headed towards the entrance; I couldn’t help but notice my quickening heartbeat.
Even before we arrived at the actual entrance, we were stopped by one of the guards who forcefully stepped forward and shouted: “Stop! Due to the war, the factory cannot be visited! Turn around and go back where you came from!”
Deciding to give it a try, I –trying to sound as innocent as possible, yet still unable to miss hearing the slight quavering of my voice- asked: “Is there really no way to enter the factory? See, my friend and I, we came from far away, just to see this impressive-“
“I said the factory’s closed! Now buzz off before I make you!” the guard snarled at me.
Slowly turning my head, I gave Applejack a long, asking look. She first returned the look, but then hesitantly shook her head.
I nodded my understanding, then slowly turned around and walked away; Applejack trotted right behind me.
We stopped at the opposite end of the square; I turned towards my companion and said: “Alright, that was obvious: of course they won’t let anypony into such an important place as the weather factory, especially when there’s war.”
I casted a look over my shoulder and looked back at the factory’s entrance : the guards had stopped looking at us and continued to stare into the distance stiffly. Turning back to Applejack, I said: “Okay, I’ll try to fly around the factory; maybe I can spot that door Fluttershy was talking about.” I hesitated, “But I’m afraid that those guards may notice me.”
Applejack snorted and made a derogatory gesture with her hoof: “Nevermind them. Go Ahead, I’ll distract them. Just be careful.”
For a moment, I remained silent, giving her a partly unbelieving, partly serious look. After noticing that she was serious, I turned back towards the factory and said: “Okay then. I’ll round the factory and look for an entrance, see you here in a few minutes!”
The orange mare nodded and walked back towards the group of guards. I waited for her to approach them, then lifted myself into the air and headed towards the factory, flying in a wide bend around the entrance and checking the outside of the factory for irregularities.
Groaning under the merciless midday heat, I did my best to focus on the wall of the factory, searching for something like an entrance.
But there was nothing suspicious; the factory looked just like always: the walls were made of a thick layer of clouds; multiple rainbow-waterfalls were coming from inside the factory and a big cone emitting clouds stuck out of one side. Apart from this, the snow white walls were as plain as the clouds they were made of.
I managed to round the factory after a few moments and found myself on the backside of the building: the big wall was filled with several openings, emitting either liquid rainbows or colorful smoke. I looked around to check if I was alone, then flew closer to the wall and searched it for something that would look like the gate Fluttershy described.
Accidently inhaling a breeze of the colorful smoke made me choke: even though the scent was quite tasty, the smoke seemed to contain mostly poisonous gases that caused me to gag. Flying a couple of meters higher in order to escape the smoke cloud, I spotted something: a little gap in the plain wall. Flying closer towards it, I saw that the gap outlined a square, approximately five meters in length and four in height; its surface seemed to be slightly different from the fluffy cloud around.
I flew towards the wall and put a hoof on it: a shot of adrenaline rushed through my veins as I touched its metal surface: I was sure that this was the door Fluttershy described. After backing up a couple of feet, I searched the wall for a button that would open the door, but found nothing; it seemed to be controlled from inside the factory. So I approached the lower end of the door and, placing my hooves in the small gap, tried to lift it on my own. Obviously, I either wasn’t strong enough to open the door, or it was simply locked.
A sigh escaped my mouth and I, putting my head back in exhaustion, involuntarily looked up. My glance fell on a small ledge a few meters above my head. Curiously raising an eyebrow, I flew upward and got myself to the level of the ledge.
I smirked satisfied as I noticed a grey metal door leading inside the factory; a small number pad –most likely used to control the locking mechanism- was fixed to the wall next to it. Apparently, this was the regular entrance to the factory; at least to the ‘Rainbow Factory’.
Feeling a shiver run through my spine, I lifted myself into the air again, giving the visitor’s entrance of the factory a wide berth, and landing next to Applejack who waited at our appointed meeting point.
Her eyes showed a touch of curiosity as she asked: “So, did ya find that door?”
With a quick nod, I approved: “Yeah, but it’s locked and way too heavy to be lifted by hoof.”
Already seeing the determination vanish from Applejack’s face, I hastily added, “But there’s another entrance a bit higher; I guess that’s where the employees, or whatever you may call them, enter the factory.”
Her determined look returned instantly; the muscles in her body tensed as she asked: “So, what are we waiting for then!?”
“There’s a problem with that entrance.” I said soberly.
She raised an eyebrow: “What problem?”
“See, the entrance is locked with a metal door and secured by a code of numbers. I guess that was somewhat expectable.” I admitted sheepishly.
Applejack snorted amused: “A metal door? Ha. How thick is it?”
Giving her a shrug, I said: “I don’t know, it looked pretty heavy though. One inch, maybe?”
“Ha-ha! Alright, that shouldn’t be a problem.” She laughed confidently.
“What? What do you mean?”
She chuckled: “Yer gonna see when we’re there.” She paused, “But it’s on the backside of that factory, right?”
“Yeah, it’s a quite long distance and the way there isn’t paved.”
Giving my body a thoughtful look, she asked: “Think ya can carry me?”
My eyes widened: Certainly, I’m not a featherweight and quite strong on my own, but that mare looked really sturdy; considering the fact that she carried me to the hospital, she probably had muscles like a full-grown stallion and an appropriate weight.
I gulped: “I’m not so sure about that.”
“Come on, Ah’m not that fat, ya know?” she put me off.
It took me a few moments to realize that there was no other choice: not only that I could use –not to say that I would be dependent on- Applejack’s support in the factory, she also seemed to have a plan how we could get past the thick metal door that sealed the entrance.
I exhaled in discomfort, then reluctantly prostrated and said: “Fine, just don’t move while we’re flying! I already fell to the ground once, I don’t want to experience that again.”
Without hesitating, the sturdy mare mounted my back and leaned forward, moving the two of us into a very embarrassing position.
“You don’t have any fears of contacts, do you?” I asked while slowly getting to my hooves again.
“Now don’t ya whine just because Ah’m a little closer to ya! There’s nothing emotional behind that!” she dryly responded.
I grumbled a riposte and slowly lifted off, feeling the weight of Applejack -plus the weight of her heavy saddlebag- push me downward.
Needless to say that I asked too much of my stricken wings: they had hardly managed to carry my weight; now it was as much again, plus the weight of two crammed saddlebags. So I wasn’t really surprised as the sharp pain returned after only a few seconds, growing stronger every time I flapped my wings.
However, as I slowly rounded the factory, I felt how my pain got overshadowed by my anticipation: finally, I was about to enter the factory, finally I could free Firespark!
I clenched my teeth in determination and –only a few moments later- landed hard on the soft surface of the cloud-ledge in front of the metal-door. A moan of relief escaped my lips as Applejack dismounted my back and I felt her weight lift from my body.
Flapping my sore wings and turning towards the door, I said: “See, that’s what I meant. Now please tell me how you plan to open it.” I challenged Applejack.
She stepped forward and gave the metal an inspecting look. Then, she turned around, lifted her rear legs into the air and gave the door a forceful kick; it flew open with a loud crash.
Giving me an amused smile, she said: “See, Ah told ya! No challenge for me!”
My jaw dropped and I -unable to hide my amazement- said: “Wow.”
Applejack grinned complacently and stepped inside, saying: “Come on, we gotta find your daughter!”
Smiling in a mixture of anticipation and satisfaction, I bared my teeth and followed her into the darkness of the factory.